Israel’s lawyers told the United Nations’ top court that the country has the right to press ahead with a large-scale offensive in Rafah, south of Gaza, to defend itself against the Palestinian group Hamas, after South Africa presented a urgent call to order a ceasefire as part of a wider case accusing Israel of genocide.
“The fact is that the city of Rafah also serves as a military stronghold for Hamas, which continues to pose a significant threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” said Gilad Noam, Israel’s Deputy Attorney General for Law. International, to the International Court. Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Friday.
Noam accused South Africa of “mocking the heinous accusation of genocide,” accusing the country of “adopting a strategy of dragging Israel to court indefinitely” and of having an “ulterior motive” for urging Israel’s withdrawal from Rafah to obtain “a military advantage for its ally Hamas, which it does not want to see defeated.”
Reporting from The Hague, Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen said the hearing was “unusual”, with a German judge asking Israel to submit a written response to a request for information about humanitarian conditions in its declared “evacuation zones” in Gaza. until the next day. .
Adding to the “great emotions” in the hearing, a woman shouted “Liars, liars!” in the public gallery’s Israeli legal representative, Vaessen said.
“South Africa says this is now the last opportunity for the court to save the people in Gaza and save the people in Rafah,” she said.
South Africa on Thursday asked the ICJ to order Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah, where the UN says at least 630,000 displaced civilians have been forced to flee after seeking refuge from bombings in the besieged enclave.
The lawyers requested that the ICJ issue three emergency orders, or “provisional measures,” while it rules on the broader charge that Israel is violating the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, chief deputy legal advisor at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said Israel was making “remarkable efforts” to improve aid delivery, denying it had closed the two main crossings into southern Gaza – the Rafah border crossing. with Egypt, which it seized on May 7 when it launched an attack on the city and crossing of Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) with Israel.
“This is blatantly false,” she said at Friday’s hearing. “The truth is that Israel allows and facilitates the provision of more and more humanitarian aid through a series of daily crossings.”
Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said UN officials have confirmed that no aid has arrived through either crossing.
Marc Owen Jones, associate professor of Middle Eastern studies and digital humanities at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, said he believed South Africa’s case was strong enough for the court to issue additional provisional measures in Gaza, given that humanitarian conditions only worsened after the court’s decision. previous orders for Israel to allow aid to flow.
“It’s been months and the aid situation is desperate,” he told Al Jazeera.
While a decision on the emergency measures is expected next week, it will likely be years before the court can rule on the underlying charge of genocide.
‘Genocidal’ consequences
On Thursday, ICJ judges heard multiple allegations against Israel made by lawyers representing South Africa, relating to mass graves, torture and the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid.
South African lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi told the court that Israel was continuing its attacks in Rafah despite “explicit warnings” that they could have “genocidal” consequences.
South Africa asked the court to order Israel to “immediately” cease all military operations in Gaza, including in Rafah, and to withdraw from the territory. It also intends for Israel to allow humanitarian access, allow unimpeded access to UN officials, aid groups, journalists and researchers, and report on its progress in carrying out these orders.
It is the third time that the ICJ has held hearings on the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza since South Africa began a genocide process in December.
In January, the judges ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, and to allow humanitarian aid to the enclave. But he stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive.
ICJ judges have broad powers to order a ceasefire and other measures, although the court does not have its own enforcement apparatus. A 2022 court order demanding Russia halt its large-scale invasion of Ukraine has so far been ignored.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
